Erin’s green Betsey Johnson dress gave her a rockabilly look and made her feel like Cindi Lauper. When we were doing a few more portraits together right after the ceremony, I wanted to use the dock and water, but also wanted to do something a little different, so I asked Erin to bop over to Jared like Cindi would. It was so funny! I was definitely hooting and hollering, and we were all laughing pretty hard.

view the post with links to all wedding photos here.

Posted in clients, destination, wedding 3 Comments »

Although I have been to Phoenix before, on our great Southwestern style family vacation of many years past, I’ve never spent much time here. This week has been an interesting cultural study - things here are so different from my life on the east coast. Incidentally, people here refer to New York / PA as the east coast and AZ as the west coast…? huh?

Here are some of my observations:

• Everyone at the airport when I was passing through on a Monday morning seemed to be a middle aged white man about to go golfing… in khacki cargo shorts (!!).
• PHX has this huge new complex just for car rentals. It seemed to be a bit much.
• Everyone thinks it’s cool to refer to the city as PHX.
• HOT! Wooeee I would never be able to live here. It’s been 101 all week. And this is fall!
• Buildings are large, clean, and have the hugest windows ever. Architecture downtown has a modern organic feel. Architecture outside the city is very blendy - everything seems to be some version of the color that is not brown and is not red but somewhere in between.
• Cacti! I almost went to this huge desert botanical garden today but realized that I have already seen all 145692 species of cacti next to the roads. Those things are huge and wonderful, but not beautiful.  It’s just different and interesting terrain, much like walking out of the airport on the Big Island (Hawaii) and feeling like you’re on the moon.
• Everyone thinks Scottsdale is the place to go. But really it seems to be about shopping and being tan and trendy.
• Southwestern theme. Everywhere. Must be quite profitable with the tourists.

Yesterday I spent my afternoon at the Phoenix Art Museum. There was one exhibit in particular that blew me away  — actually it disoriented me quite a bit. Everyone refers to it as the ‘firefly room’ but its official name is “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies” by Yayoi Kusama (reviewed by others here and here). It was basically the most dazzling and effective piece of interactive art I have ever experienced.

Today was different. I took a drive up to Carefree, Arizona to do some location scouting. In January Carefree will play host to the DWF 2009 convention and several hundred eager photographers will descend upon the community. Carefree seems to be well-versed in corralling visitors through webs of interlocking parking lots and mini rotaries, past southwestern themed everything (even the Target had unusually high amounts of adobe) and past landscaped desert garden medians galore. It’s an unusual place, and very scenic for someone who finds desert to be exotic. I really, REALLY want to do an outdoor desert boudoir session but I need to find the right model first.

After location scouting Carefree, I checked out Phoenix’s Heard Museum. A few locals groaned when they mentioned this museum, and I wondered if it would be full of kokopelli print kitsch, but I have to give major props to the people who designed the museum displays and even the museum interior. Everything worked well together, from the lighting to the wavy wood paneled viewing hubs, to the wording on the signage. Everything was intelligent and avoided overexplanation without leaving me feeling confused about what I was seeing. The Heard Museum is a wonderful visit, and I no longer question why it is the number one stop on this list of “Best Things to Do and See in the Phoenix Area“.

If I were looking for a really cool wedding venue in Phoenix, I’d choose the Heard Museum or the Phoenix Art Museum. Both are unique spaces full of light and color and culture without being too pretentious.

OHHH!! also, I got to eat at Chick-fil-A, and for some reason that always makes me happy.

Posted in destination, inspiration, personal, travel schedule 1 Comment »

I usually only know my travel schedule a few weeks before any particular date, but I do have several trips happening in the next few months worth noting

September 26-27 :: Phoenix, Arizona
October 3-5 :: Providence / Warwick, Rhode Island :: boudoir sessions
October 11-12 :: New York, New York
October 22-24 :: New York, New York (+ Long Island, New York)
October 25-26 :: Newport, Rhode Island
November 27-28 :: New York (NYC, Long Island)
November 30-December 11 :: Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii + Kona, Big Island, Hawaii
December 23-29  :: Dallas, Texas
January 10-14 :: Phoenix, Arizona
January 16-20 :: Key West, Florida
February 2-6 :: Michigan (projected)
February 26-March 2 :: San Francisco, California (projected)
February/March :: Tehran, Iran?

If you live in or near one of these places (or know people who do…) and would like to schedule a meeting to talk about wedding photography, or book a portrait, bridal, or engagement session, contact me at rachel@mergeweddings.com.

I am seriously interested in taking a trip overseas (Kenya?) with a nonprofit relief organization sometime in 2009.

As I mentioned below, I’d love to shoot a wedding in Michigan next year, as well as talk with you about your international location wedding.

Posted in destination, travel schedule, wedding No Comments »

I LOVE RHODE ISLAND WEDDINGS!

One more photo from the ceremony part of Allissa and Seth’s wedding celebration at The Towers in Narragansett, Rhode Island. This is when they were praying together after taking communion.

One of the very romantic images from our portrait session on the Rhode Island coast.

One of my favorite things about the wedding was the simplicity of the details.

Here are some special moments from the reception:

Normally, I think white twinkle lights are not only overdone, but usually poorly arranged. The Towers in Narragansett is a beautiful venue with lots of windows and a view of the coast and natural light streaming in during the day. The twinkle lights here really do add just the right amount of magic here in this photo. Well done, whoever set that up!

When her daddy asked her to dance, she was all adoration. Check this out:

It was really important for me to document Seth’s kids as they were throughout the day. When I suggested to Sophie that I take a photo with just her and her father, with no one else around, she absolutely beamed. This is just one in a series of photos that make me so glad I get to make images like this for her to show off when she is graduating from high school, or maybe add to one of those ‘growing up’ mashup slideshows people love to show at their own weddings.

And this family portrait? Priceless. The kids weren’t really digging the idea of any more photos, so it was an interesting series. Something about this not only makes me laugh, but rings so true to life. I hope you guys display this image somewhere prominent:

In summation, if I only took one photo the entire day, I think I would want it to be this.

[ see more photos here and here ]
[ first sneak peek post here ]

Posted in clients, destination, wedding 4 Comments »

Allissa and Seth had a small outdoor ceremony near the coast in Rhode Island. I loved the intimacy of the day, and the simplicity of the event. You got the idea that everyone who was supposed to be there was there, but no one was trying to show off for anybody else. It was delicious.

There is always SOMETHING at every wedding that provides a lasting chuckle. Sometimes it comes in the form of flailing aunties out on the dance floor, uninvited onlookers in their beach clothing, or earnest little girls watching with huge eyes every time the bride walks by. Of all the wonderful things at Allissa and Seth’s beautiful Rhode Island wedding, the thing that amused me the most was the cake topper… Allissa’s dad took it upon himself to custom ‘manscape’ the groom - he painted a beard to match Seth!

Venue: The Towers (Narragansett, RI)

More images coming at the end of the week… I’ll be at a conference here in Phoenix for the next few days.

Posted in clients, destination, wedding 4 Comments »

Beth is the daughter of a Pentecostal pastoral team, so you would expect the ceremony to be heartfelt and intense. It was.

moments before the KISS:

Brits have this funny tradition of going over to a decorated table and publicly signing the wedding registry in front of the entire congregation. I’ve never seen that before, but I’ve been told that this is common “everywhere” except the US (and probably Uganda or something).

Oh! Hello everyone! Three handsome sound guys were helping me balance on a wobbly office chair in the church balcony to get this photo. (Thanks dudes. Next time I will bring cookies.)

fancy British CAR:

men wearing CRAVATS

women wearing HATS

1-year-old Tobi, with his curly head and impish little smile and breakdancing skillz, pretty much stole the show for me.

more photos here and all photos here

link to their prewedding portrait session

A HUGE thanks to my new friends in Huddersfield UK. You guys rock! I had such a nice visit.

Posted in clients, destination, ethnic wedding, wedding 2 Comments »

Oh man, that was a fun wedding!  Leanna and Willie arranged for me to meet them and their entire bridal party the day before the wedding for a casual photo shoot in the Redhook area of Brooklyn/NYC. It was a great idea!

[ more photos here and here ]

Posted in clients, destination, portraits, wedding No Comments »

“You can’t get to wonderful without passing through all right.”

- Bill Withers [ watch the fantastic short here ]

This is a teaser for Beth and Dave’s UK wedding. Just one small taste of the awesomeness that ensued.

Posted in clients, destination, ethnic wedding, wedding, wisdom 2 Comments »

Since Allissa and Seth are getting married this next Sunday (!) (another Rhode Island wedding), and they’re as busy as I am lately, we ended up having a super quick session… 10 minutes! Seth seemed a little bit shy from the camera at first, but he’s an awfully handsome man. They’re really in love.

[ more photos from the quick session here ]

Posted in clients, destination, engagements 4 Comments »

I am ridiculously excited for Erin and Jared’s wedding on a campground in Maine in a couple of weeks, and just about did a little happy dance when I received an email from her with the best PS ever.

P.S. We’ve got 100 fake mustaches on the way for the reception. Prepare yourself for some silliness.

Posted in clients, destination, wedding 1 Comment »